1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an oil-conducting apparatus, and more particularly to an oil-conducting apparatus for a linear motion system capable of providing lubricant constantly without requiring any extra power unit.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The current lubricating methods for a linear motion system (including linear guideway and ball screw) generally involve external lubrication and self-lubrication.
The external lubrication means using an external power unit (such as a pump) to transport lubricant to the rolling elements through the oil pipe.
The self-lubrication can be used on a linear guideway for example, it can install a lubricating device on the sliding block, in the lubricating device is received a wool felt containing lubricant, and then the lubricant can be transmitted to the linear guideway because of capillary action. This self-lubrication has been disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,401,867, 6,123,457, 6,257,766.
Regarding the external lubrication, it usually sets the pump to run periodically (for example, to run at every 10 seconds), injecting the lubricant into the rolling path. This lubricating method not only requires external power load, but also the lubricant is not injected continuously but periodically, lubricating effect is not good. Furthermore, after a certain time of use, the lubricant may be overly injected, resulting in lubricant leakage and unnecessary waste and contamination.
The self-lubrication doesn't have the aforementioned disadvantages of the external lubrication, however, it also has its shortcomings. As mentioned above, the self-lubrication usually uses a lubricant containing wool felt to supply lubricant by taking advantage of capillary action, one of the resultant shortcomings is that the oil-containing amount and capability of the wool felt is not ideal. Besides, the wool felt is installed in the lubricating device, so that it is difficult to find if the lubricant in the wool felt has been used up, and the rolling elements may not be fully lubricated.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the afore-described disadvantages.